Job Description

About the job.

National Highways have an excellent opportunity for a Senior Planner join our team in Major Projects. As the Senior Planner, you will be responsible for assuring the schedule is pulled together correctly, in line National Highways requirements, and will be part of the team assuring its quality. The Senior Planner will ensure the organisation has a competent user of the Primavera P6 software so that collaborative inter-programme elements can be managed accurately and efficiently (such as labour, plant and material) and aid the forecast of National Highways requirements. Senior Planners are key members of the project teams and vital to the PMO team when ensuring the projects can be delivered on time and on budget.

Please note this position can be based from our UK offices however; travel to regional offices / sites to attend team meetings will be required.

• Work independently on the production, updating, monitoring, reviewing and analysing of project schedules using Primavera P6 in the NH Oracle EPPM system to prepare regular programme performance reports, analyse schedule variance and forecast completion dates & provide programme assurance and health checks.
• Support change control processes &present planning information to senior leadership teams as well as Review and assess schedule progress and construction output in accordance with the Major Projects Planning and Scheduling Processes and in accordance with the SMP requirements, with input from the wider project team, to produce contemporaneous reports as necessary.
• Highlight areas of concern in regard to construction output and review mitigation measures with the Project Team. This includes contract change events and the cause and effect these may have against the baseline.
• Assist, support & Engage Programme Managers, project managers, commercial teams as directed with planning and schedule related matters and attend meetings as well as facilitate programme review meetings as required.
• Take the lead on managing stakeholders schedule communication information to ensure alignment of information, Lead planning activities across one or multiple projects, Team management of project planning team including supply chain planning team members & Influence decision-making through data-driven insights.

About you.

• Experienced in administering the planning and scheduling elements of a contract, ideally NEC4 Alliance Contract and/or experience with the NEC3.
• Experienced with both project manager and contractor elements of a contract, ideally NEC4 Alliance Contract and/or experience with the NEC3.
• Excellent knowledge in the use of Primavera P6 and be competent with other planning software such as Microsoft Project , Microsoft Excel combined with a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office packages as well as a good working knowledge of Power BI and reporting tools.
• Hands on experience with planning and scheduling requirements, within an Integrated Project Controls environment.
• Extensive project planning experience with good working knowledge in the use of Earned Value Management and how to apply this in a Major Project environment, to mitigate Programme delays and forecast overruns.
• NEC accreditation is desirable but not essential.

About us.

Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England’s motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.

Major Projects are responsible for major enhancements to our road network. We make roads safer, journeys more reliable and unlock economic growth.  At the same time, we seek out ways to create opportunities for sustainable travel, help nature to thrive and support our journey to net zero carbon.

Our team work closely with the supply chain to design and construct road projects, as well as develop a pipeline of possible projects as we look to the future. ​​​​​​Our skills span many areas from customer experts, land and property advisers to project management. We understand the potential that our road schemes can bring.

External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy.

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Why you should join us

At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers.

So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation.

A connected and sustainable working approach has been adopted across National Highways. For some roles, this means being able to work in a hybrid way spending up to 60% of time working from a remote location such as home.

We offer many different ways to work flexibly and we’re open to discuss part-time working, job shares, and flexible start and finish times.

Please wait until the interview stage before asking us about flexibility, and we will explore what is possible.

Our benefits package

• Our total reward package includes basic salary, the potential for a performance related bonus
• Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10%
• Annual Leave starting at 26 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising by 1 day each year up to 31 days (plus Bank Holidays)
• Flexible hours and an approach driven by connected and sustainable working which includes hybrid working
• Life assurance of 4 times annual salary
• Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines
• A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
• Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience

And we are

• Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities
• Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme
• Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year

If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:

• Right to work check
• 3 year employment history references
• DBS criminal record check
• Social media and adverse journalism check
• Driving licence check (if applicable)
• Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable)
• Qualifications and/or professional membership check (if applicable)

And finally

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